Life Debts
by arekay
Summary: Different Ending to HBP. Harry's leaving school but doesn't want Ron and Hermione to come with him. Find out why. Rating it T just to be safe. Will probably be a oneshot. Not a Ha/Hr. Slight amount of what might be considered bashing.
1. Chapter 1

**Life Debts**

The Standard Disclaimer applies.

* * *

Dumbledore's funeral had just gotten over and Harry was heading back to his dorm to grab his trunk when Ron and Hermione caught up with him.

"What do we do now?" said Ron.

"I don't know about you Ron, but I won't be coming back next year," said Harry in a brisk no-nonsense tone.

"You're going after the Horcruxes then? Ron and I will be coming with you," announced Hermione.

"No you won't. I'm doing this on my own," answered Harry.

"What? No, we're coming with you and that's that, I'm not taking no for an answer," said Hermione.

"It's not your decision to make Hermione, I don't want you and Ron with me," said Harry as he turned on his heel and walked away.

Hermione came running after him leaving a befuddled Ron behind.

"Harry, Harry, wait up. You can't just leave. At least talk about it," she said.

"Nope, nothing to talk about, I don't need you and more importantly I don't want you to come with me," said Harry.

"You don't want us around. Why not?" she asked.

"I really don't think there's any point in discussing this Hermione, why don't you just go back to Ron," said Harry.

"No, we're talking about this, why don't you want me and Ron to come with you? You'll need our help," she insisted as she struggled to keep up with Harry's pace.

"Yes, I'll need help, I know that but...okay, let's start with Ron - tell me Hermione, how exactly do you think Ron would be of help?" asked Harry stopping and whirling around to face her.

She squeaked as she came to a sudden stop."Well, he's your best friend and..." she started.

"Best friend right, that's a great qualification for hunting horcruxes. Ron can barely get through a quidditch game without falling apart, and you want me to take him with me. Why?" he asked as he stared at Hermione. "Hermione, do you think I'm going to be staying in 5 star hotels? What happens when the going gets rough? Can you imagine Ron's reaction if he has to miss a few meals? He'll go running back to his mother as fast as he can, that's what's going to happen. No, I definitely don't need him around. He'll be of absolutely no help. Not unless I run into another giant chess board anyway."

"What about me? Why don't you want me around? I could help you?" she said.

"Like you helped me this year? Tell me Hermione, how many times this year did I tell you I thought Malfoy was a Death eater and was up to something? How many times did you tell me I was being paranoid, how many times did you tell me to just work on Slughorn instead?" asked Harry.

Hermione found it hard to meet Harry's gaze. He was absolutely right about her behavior that past year. Why hadn't she listened to him? What had made her so sure that he could not possibly be right? She had no idea."What do you want me to say Harry? I was wrong and I'm sorry," she said.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Hermione, Dumbledore's dead," he said.

"And I'm sorrier than you can imagine about that. You've got to let me make it up to you, let me at least come with you," she pleaded.

"No Hermione. No...just...No," he said.

"But we've always done everything together, we've been best friends since first year, I can't just abandon you now," she said.

"Friends, right," Harry said with a snort of utter disdain.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked. She felt absolutely indignant at his snort. How could he dismiss six years of friendship like that. She was utterly utterly shocked.

"Nothing, forget I ever mentioned it," he said. He looked extremely uncomfortable for a brief moment and then his gaze hardened again.

"No, why did you scoff like that when I said we've been friends since first year," she pressed.

"I really don't want to get into it Hermione, and trust me, you don't want me to get into it either," he stated.

"What are you talking about Harry; you can't just say something like that and expect me to let it go," said Hermione.

Harry took a deep breath and steeled himself for what he knew was going to be a tough conversation. "Okay fine, you asked for it. You know I've been thinking about this all year, ever since we became friends you've always been there for me, without fail. Even when Ron abandoned me during the Triwizard Tournament, you never wavered; you were always there, always the perfect friend, until this year. I kept wondering what I had done to make you change this much; I kept wondering why you had suddenly decided to act like you hated me? Why were you so hell bent on arguing with me about inconsequential things like some notes in a potions book? The Hermione I knew would have been overjoyed that I had finally found a way to do better in class, she would have been the first to borrow the book and learn all the tips and tricks for herself, She would never have treated me the way you've been doing all year."

"Harry, you know I'm sorry about..." she started.

"Save it Hermione," interrupted Harry. "Let me finish then you can talk. The thing is, for me at least your personality changed drastically this year. Your sudden obsession with Ron, jinxing McLaggen during a tryout, your total disregard of all of my concerns, none of this made any sense to me. What could have made you change so much? I even asked Pomfrey whether that curse that Dolohov hit you with could have caused brain damage.

"Brain damage..." she whispered in a horrified tone.

"No, it didn't cause any permanent damage; you can relax about that, anyhow like I was saying you just didn't make any sense this year at all. At least until I came across this book in the library. It described something and suddenly everything made a certain amount of sense."

"What was it?" she asked, almost dreading to hear the answer.

"Do you remember first year Hermione? Do you remember when we actually became friends?"

"Of course, it's not like I'm ever going to forget that you saved me from a troll," she said.

"Yes, the troll," he shook his head as he remembered the incident. "The funny thing is...before that troll, you weren't really interested in being my friend were you? At least you didn't act like it."

He turned to her and looking more serious then he ever had before he asked - "Tell me Hermione, have you ever bothered to read up on life debts?"

Hermione was confused, what did life debts have to do with...well, anything. "No, I know Dumbledore mentioned them to you once, he said Pettigrew owed you a life debt. I thought that just meant that he owed you his life."

"The thing is, I thought the same thing until I came across them in a book. Life Debts are a bit more than that Hermione; they're just one of those things that everyone knows so they don't bother to teach you anything about them in school. When a wizard saves another wizards life, it creates a magical bond between them, that magical bond will force you to repay the debt one way or another. Your own magic will force you to repay the bond. Now the strength of the bond can vary according to several factors, one of them being how dangerous the situation is to the person doing the saving. With me so far?" he asked.

He stared at her until he gave him a tentative nod. "So Hermione, exactly how dangerous do you think it is for an eleven year old to jump on a fully grown trolls back?"

"So you're saying I owe you a life debt?" asked Hermione in a horrified tone.

"Owed, not owe Hermione, I'm sawing you OWED me a life debt, a particularly strong one I would imagine. Now most wizards in that situation would take some steps to repay that debt, they would decide on some form of restitution and that would be that. The problem is that we didn't know about the debts did we, and Ron's too thick to think about telling us about them."

"Wouldn't I have owed Ron a life debt as well then?" she asked.

"I don't think so, for one he never came near the troll so he wasn't in any danger, but more importantly he was the reason you were there in the first place, not to mention the fact that he was only there because I dragged him along to search for you."

"Why didn't the teachers say anything?" she demanded.

"You lied to them about why we were in the bathroom remember. It probably didn't occur to them that I had gone there looking to warn you about the troll, and lets face it Hermione - when it comes to telling muggleborns like you or muggle raised children like me about the wizarding world, this school has never really bothered have they? They have a muggle studies class for the pure bloods so that they can learn about muggles, but when did they ever have a class to tell the muggleborn about how things really are in the wizarding world? Anyway, so the situation was that you owed me a life debt and weren't doing anything to repay me right? How could you, when you didn't even know anything about it. At that point your own magic forced you into repaying the debt."

Hermione's head was swimming in pure and utter disbelief. No, this could not be true. She would have known she owed him a life debt. Wouldn't she? "Forced me, but how?"

"What do you think I desperately needed back in first year Hermione? I never had any friends growing up, thanks to my cousin. I was hoping to have friends once I came to Hogwarts, but everyone treated me like the Boy Who Lived not just Harry. Even Ron, the first thing he did was to ask to look at my scar, like I'm some kind of freak show. Somehow your magic must have sensed that I needed a friend and that's just what it made you. Your own magic forced you to become the perfect friend for me. As you can imagine, that probably changed your personality quite a bit," stated Harry.

"They can do that?" whispered Hermione, shocked beyond belief. "But I can't be the only one who owes you a life debt, what about Ginny? You saved her from the Basilisk."

"And this year when I was lonely and found myself attracted to her, she was suddenly attracted to me as well wasn't she? Why do you think I broke up with her, you think I want to be with someone who's only with me because they owe me?" asked Harry.

"No Harry, you know that's not true, Ginny's always had a crush on you," she said.

"She was a kid who had a crush on the Boy-Who-Lived Hermione. She never knew the real me, and once she did she got over her crush pretty quickly didn't she? She was happily dating other people before I got interested in her."

"Even if that was what happened, and I'm not sure it is; that doesn't explain our problems this year? After all, if what you say is true then I still owe you the debt right?"

"No, Hermione, you don't. Remember the Department of Mysteries. For the first time you were put in a life threatening situation purely because of something I did. You nearly died because of me Hermione; at that point I think your magic finally called the debt paid in full. After that your personality started reverting back to what it would have been without the life debt influencing you."

"That doesn't make sense Harry; I've been there with you in tons of dangerous situations every single year at Hogwarts."

"In how many of those were you hurt purely because of something I did? Back in first year we got through the traps without any trouble, the only real danger was Quirrel and I faced him on my own. In second year, sure you were petrified, but I wasn't the one to send you down that corridor where you met the basilisk. In third year, you were in danger from the dementors, but it was me who saved us. And in fourth year, you were never in any danger at all. No, the one and only time I've put you in serious life threatening danger was last year at the DOM."

"I still don't believe it," she said, hoping that if she said it with enough conviction it would turn out to be true.

"Think about it Hermione, it explains everything, it explains our sudden friendship, it explains why you've been distancing yourself from me this year, and hell it might even explain your sudden obsession with Ron."

"Ron? How does it explain me and Ron?"

"Do you remember why you were in that toilet in the first place? Ron passed a hurtful comment and you spent the entire day in a bathroom crying. The thing is, in the entire time I've known you; you've never been that sensitive. Hell Malfoy's said a lot worse things to you over the years and you've shrugged them all off. So why did Ron upset you so much? The only thing I can think of is that you probably had a little school girl crush on Ron even back then. Under normal circumstances you'd have probably outgrown it as must school girls do, you most definitely would have gotten over it once you got to know Ron better, but when the life debt started changing your personality it probably just suppressed that crush. Then once the debt was paid all those old feelings came back didn't they? How else would you explain why you're suddenly attracted to Ron."

"How can you say that Harry, Ron's always been our friend?"

"Right Hermione Right, he's been our friend, you've never been even remotely interested in him romantically before this year, and the Hermione I knew was much too smart to ever be interested in Ron."

"Why? What's wrong with him?"

"What's wrong with him? Really? How about the fact that he has absolutely no regard for your feelings? How about that? You made it clear you were interested in him yet he had no problem snogging Lavender in front of you. Or maybe it's the fact that he finds it funny when you get hurt. Remember back at the burrow when you got a black eye from the twins punching telescope? You were in pain, and he was trying not to laugh. What do you have in common with him anyway? Apart from school, what do you have in common? Can you think of anything?"

"I...I..."

"There you go then, even you can't think of anything," he stopped for a second as a thought suddenly hit him. "Huh," he exclaimed. "You know, it just occurred to me that I might be totally wrong about everything I said earlier. It's actually perfectly possible that both of us owed Ron a life debt. He did knock out the troll after all. It certainly explains why I've put up with him all of these years. Anyone else would have dumped him after the way he acted during the tournament. It's funny how easily I forgave him for that." He paused for a second thinking furiously. "But...do I still owe him? I don't think so. Even if saving Ginny wasn't enough, I did save his life after he was poisoned. That should definitely be enough to repay the debt. You, on the other hand...have you ever thought that maybe your attraction to him is just a way for you to repay the debt?"

Hermione's mind was reeling from too many revelations. Her and Ron...Harry...life debts...all of those thoughts were bouncing around in her head. She forced her mind to clear and focus on the immediate problem. "Wait, wait, wait. That still doesn't mean I can't come with you. This is me Harry, according to you I'm no longer being forced by a life debt right? And I'm telling you that I want to help you find the horcruxes?"

"Why Hermione? Feeling guilty about Dumbledore's death? Feeling sorry about the way you treated me all year? Want to make amends? Just stop all right. You're just emotional right now because of Dumbledore. Take some time, wait till you're not so emotional and think things through. If you truly examine your feelings once you're calm, you'll come to the same conclusion that I have."

"And what is that?" she asked.

"You're free now Hermione. You don't owe me anything. You certainly don't need to give up on your schooling and go off on a wild goose chase with me. Think about it, examine your feelings and you'll realize that you probably don't even like me all that much, forget about being friends. There is absolutely no reason for you to fight Voldemort with me," he said.

"It's not only your fight Harry, Voldemort and the purebloods will probably come after me and people like me anyway…"

"And you're a 16...sorry 17 year old girl. No sane culture anywhere in the world would expect you to fight terrorists. Any reasonably advanced nation in the world expects you to be at least 18 before you can join an army..."

Hermione interrupted - "No, the British army lets you join at 16."

Harry glared at her and continued as if she had not spoken - "and then they at least give you some basic training before they send you off to face the enemy. What training has Hogwarts given you Hermione? Which of our teachers taught you how to fight against Death Eaters? Did Quirrell? Lockhart? Umbridge? Lupin was our one decent teacher and he taught you how to defeat a boggart. Expect many boggarts to be fighting alongside Voldemort?"

"You still can't do this on your own, you'll still need help," she begged.

"Yes, just not from you and Ron," said Harry. "If I were you Hermione I'd take my parents and leave the country. You certainly don't owe the wizards here anything. Why would you fight to save a culture where you're looked down upon because your great grandparents weren't wizards? I have to because a stupid prophecy made before I was even born means that Voldemort will never stop coming after me, but what's your reason? All you need to do is disappear and you'll be perfectly safe."

"I still want to help you," she said.

"And I don't want your help. After this year I'm not even sure I can trust you anymore," said Harry.

"How can you say that Harry..." said a teary Hermione. No, this could not be happening. Harry could not be saying these things to her. No, this was all just a bad dream.

"Who killed Dumbledore, Hermione?" barked Harry.

"What does that have to do with anything...?"

"Snape! Snape killed Dumbledore. How many times did I warn Dumbledore about Snape? Each time I did he'd tell me he had the utmost confidence in Snape. Well he's dead now. That's what comes from trusting the wrong people, Hermione. Look at my parents, the least I can do is to learn from their example; they trusted the wrong friend and wound up betrayed and murdered. I'm sorry Hermione, but trust is a luxury I can no longer afford, and when there's even the slightest doubt, there's no way I'm going to trust that person."

"How can you doubt me? How can you doubt Ron?"

"Well I'm not going to rehash your behavior this year again, I'm sure you know by know why I can't trust you, as for Ron, he already betrayed me once back in fourth year. And I'm not just talking about the way he acted once my name came out of the goblet. I don't think I ever told you this, did I? Ron knew about the dragons before I did. His brother was one of the handlers and Ron knew...he bloody well knew about the dragons and he never told me. . He never told me that I was about to face a bloody dragon Hermione. I forgave him then, but the stakes are a bit higher now. Unfortunately there is absolutely no way I can trust him now."

"I don't know what to say Harry, I really don't..." she said.

"Well the one bright spot is that you really don't have to say anything. Once we leave school, I doubt we'll ever have to see each other again. So this is goodbye Hermione. I hope you take my advice and get away. I really do. Take your parents, go somewhere safe and have a nice life. Hopefully it'll be a safe uneventful one."

"But what will you do? Who are you going to get to help you?"

"I'll do what I have to do. Nothing more, nothing less. And the rest of it is my problem. Please don't concern yourself with it anymore," with that Harry strode away leaving Hermione behind, heading forth to face his future alone.

**~oo00oo~**


	2. Chapter 2

I originally meant for this story to just be a oneshot on why Hermione might have acted the way she did in sixth year, but then I decided to explore a little further on what Harry would do without Hermione and Ron. Here is the result.

**Chapter 2**

_Four Months Later_

Harry was enjoying a quiet breakfast at #12 Grimauld Place when he was disturbed by a chiming noise. It was the communication mirror that was lying on the side table; he picked it up to find Remus Lupin peering out at him.

"Hi Remus, what's up?"

"Hi Harry, just wanted to let you know that a friend of yours turned up at Tonks's apartment this morning. Hermione's trying to find you, what do you want me to do?"

""She's there now? What the hell? I thought she'd gone to Australia?"

"She had, but now she's back and wants to talk to you."

"Crap."

"What's the matter?"

"I thought I had managed to persuade her to stay out of this mess, and now she's back. Why the hell does the girl have to be so damn stubborn?"

"She's a Gryffindor, what did you expect? Maybe she just wants to talk to you?"

"Yeah, right. Knowing her she'll want to take over about 2 minutes after she gets here."

"So, should I get her over?"

"I'm not sure that's the best idea, I don't want to let anyone who hasn't signed the contract into the fidelius. I'll apparate over after I get dressed, see how it goes from there."

"Okay Harry, see you in a while then."

Harry sat and cursed up a blue storm for a few minutes. He had really hoped to have Hermione safely out of the way. Plus he so didn't want to deal with any drama at this point. He'd had more than enough of her and Ron bickering all of last year.

"Well, at least Ron is stashed away at Hogwarts. Hopefully without him around I won't have to deal with too much crap" he thought as he finished getting ready. He then apparated directly to Nymphadora Tonks's apartment to find Hermione, Remus and Tonks sitting around the kitchen table.

"Remus, Tonks, could you kindly give me a few minutes alone with Hermione please."

"Sure Harry, we'll just be in the other room if you need anything."

"Thanks Tonks."

Harry looked at Hermione who was looking highly uncertain and nervous, which was quite an odd look for her he thought. Normally she was a lot more confident, or at least gave the appearance of being so.

"Why are you here Hermione? I thought I made things clear back at Hogwarts."

"You did, but I had some things to say to you."

"What?"

"Just that you were right, all except for one thing."

"You're actually admitting I was right about something. That's new."

"Well, you were right about me and Ron not making any sense. You were also right that for some reason my behavior was different last year. While I'd like to chalk it up to hormones or something, you might have been right about the life debt as well. But there was one thing you were totally wrong about."

"Tell me."

"You said I should take some time and examine my feelings and that I'd probably realize that I don't even like you. You were totally wrong about that. The thing is Harry, while I agree that the Life Debt might have made me more predisposed towards friendship with you, you're forgetting one thing."

"What?"

"You were my friend as well. You were never under any life debt or obligation towards me, and you've always been my best friend. There was nothing forcing you into friendship with me was there? I may not have been the best of friend to you last year, but you were still always there for me. You've always been there for me, well except for that broom incident, and that was more Ron's fault."

"So I was your friend, big deal, you still shouldn't be here Hermione. It's not safe, there are rumors coming out of the ministry that they're going to be moving against all the muggleborns soon. There are rumors of special teams called Snatchers being formed whose sole responsibility will be to round up the muggleborns."

"Is that why you pushed me away? To keep me safe?"

"No."

"You never could lie to me Harry."

"I'm not lying Hermione, I still don't want you here."

"Yes, but the reason isn't because you don't trust me is it?"

"I don't trust anyone Hermione, I can't afford that luxury anymore."

"You trust Remus and Tonks obviously."

"I made them sign a contract Hermione."

"What kind of contract?"

"It's similar to what you had everyone sign for the DA meetings. I got the idea from that actually, only the curse is a lot worse than a little outbreak of acne."

"Oh... I didn't expect that, what kind of curse are you using?"

"I really don't want to get into it Hermione, what I'd really like in fact is for you to leave the country."

"I did, I took my parents and moved to Australia, I couldn't stand being there Harry, I couldn't stand not knowing what was happening with you, not knowing if you were okay, I had to come back."

"What did your parents have to say about that?"

"They weren't happy obviously, they're very worried about the situation here, but eventually they understood that this was something I had to do."

"What if I gave you a way to be in contact with me? We got some more of those mirrors that Sirius had given me back in fifth year. You could take one; head back to Australia and still be in touch with me anytime you want."

"No Harry, I've decided my place is here, I'm going to help you find those Horcruxes and I'm going to help you find a way to defeat Voldemort."

"I have people helping me already. People with a whole lot more experience than you."

"How many of those people know you like I do? How many have been by your side every step of the way, and please don't bring up last year or that life debt again. You know what I mean."

"And what if some of those people are former authority figures of yours? Remember summer after fourth year, Dumbledore found it much too easy to convince you not to tell me anything. What if you're put in that kind of situation again and someone asks you to do something for the greater good."

"It was hardly easy Harry, and it was Dumbledore who asked me. You always did everything he asked of you too."

"I wouldn't have if it had meant going against a friend Hermione."

"I've already told you I'm sorry about that, so many times, looking back would I do the same thing again, probably not, but at that time Dumbledore had convinced me that he knew what was best. I won't do anything like that again, you know I won't."

"It's not just me Hermione, I have to think of other people in the group as well, I can't let anyone in who hasn't signed the contract."

"So where do I sign?"

"Just like that? No thinking about it first? You haven't even heard what the curse for breaking the contract is yet."

"So tell me."

"Basically the contract forbids you from disclosing any group business to anyone not in the group. You are also forbidden from giving anyone any information about me or the horcruxes. The penalty for breaking the contract is... severe."

"What is it?"

"You die. Plain and simple, you break the contract and you die."

"You die?" squeaked Hermione. "Isn't that a bit..."

"Extreme? Harsh? Ruthless? Cruel? You could say that, I'm not taking any chances with me or my people Hermione."

"So that's why Remus refused to tell me anything at all about you this morning."

"Yep, once you sign the contract you won't even be able to tell your parents that you met me. If you run into someone like Molly Weasely you won't even be able to tell her that I'm fine. Still feel like signing? I won't hold it against you if you don't."

"Give it to me Harry."

"Are you sure? There's no backing out once you sign it."

"I'm absolutely certain."

"Okay then, I'll just apparate back and fetch it."

A few minutes later Harry was back with the parchment.

"Here you go Hermione. Read it carefully then sign the bottom."

"No one else has signed it?"

"The names are hidden from you until you sign, basic security precaution, just in case you back out at the last moment."

"Okay then, let me read it then... What's this about a secondary secret?"

"That's for your protection in case you get captured by Death Eaters. If you're captured probably their first order of business would be to torture you for information. If you reveal the secondary secret written down there; then instead of dying, you will be put into a magical coma. You can't be wakened from that coma without the consent of the people listed in the contract. They can't torture you if you can't feel it. Also anyone breaking the secondary secret will immediately show up on the parchment, so we'll know that you're captured and if possible will mount a rescue mission."

"Harry Potter wears boxers. That's your secondary secret? Really?"

Harry shrugged "It's a fact that hardly anyone should be aware of, apart from people I've lived with anyway, it qualifies as a secret."

Hermione picked up a quill and signed the bottom of the parchment, immediately a small group of names became visible.

"Not very many people here, you've got Remus and Tonks, Fleur and Bill, Mad Eye and Victor Krum. Krum? Why do you have Victor?"

"I know you and he were involved at one point and I'm telling you right now to keep it discrete Hermione. I had enough of your drama with Ron last year and I won't stand for a repeat of it. Do what you want but keep me out of it."

"Victor and I are just friends Harry; we've barely exchanged a handful of letters ever since the tournament."

"Good to know, as for why he's part of the group - He's a good guy, and out of all the people on that list, well apart from Moody who's in a class of his own, he's had the best education in terms of Defense. Say one thing about Karkaroff, former death eater he may have been, but he made damn sure his students were well educated in Defense against the Dark Arts. Victor came over for Bill and Fleur's wedding and I asked him to stick around after Fleur suggested it. Fleur and Tonks were both kind of package deals with Remus and Bill, but even Fleur was better educated than any of us in defense. Dumbledore really screwed up when it came to our defense teachers."

"Can't disagree with you there" said Hermione thinking back to all their incompetent if not downright evil teachers.

"Out of all our years at Hogwarts, there was only one time when he actually hired someone qualified to teach."

"Remus?"

"Nah, even Remus will be the first one to tell you that he wasn't hired for his qualifications. He was hired that year simply because Dumbledore was worried about Sirius. It was sheer luck that he turned out to be good at teaching. I was thinking about Moody, out of all our teachers, as an ex-auror he was the only one who was actually qualified. Dumbledore probably only bothered that year because his usual type of incompetent might have embarrassed him in front of the heads of the other schools. Of course it all went pear shaped when he was kidnapped by Crouch."

"You're sounding uncharacteristically critical of Dumbledore."

"I loved the man Hermione, you know I did, but Hermione, Dumbledore's big plan for the Horcruxes was for the three of us, you, me and Ron to go searching for them. He specifically forbade me from telling anyone else but you two about them, thank god I had a chance to think things over after the funeral and realized just how bad an idea that was."

"What have you been up to all this time Harry?"

"Well, the first thing I did was go to ***** and recast the Fidelius with me as the secret keeper, I went straight there after we left Hogwarts, didn't see any reason to waste time at Privet Drive this year."

"I'm sorry, where did you say you went?"

"Yeah about that, now listen carefully - Harry Potter lives at #12 Grimauld Place."

"You went back there, is it safe? Snape knows where the Headquarters is after all."

"Does he? We recast the Fidelius Hermione; a minute ago you couldn't even hear me when I said the name of the place out loud. Snape knows that there was a headquarters, but by now he's forgotten where it was and what it looked like."

"Anyway, like I said I got Remus and recast the Fidelius at #12, then he and I worked out the details of the contract. We then asked Bill to join."

"Why Bill?"

"He's been working at Gringott's as a curse-breaker, and we needed someone experienced at curse breaking considering the protection's around the last two horcruxes. The ring made Dumbledore's arm shrivel up, you saw it, and the last one - Dumbledore went there with only me for backup, I still don't know what he was thinking. The place was filled with _Inferi_, hundreds of them, not to mention that the locket itself was inside a bowl full of poison that had to be DRUNK before the locket could be removed. Well, after all that I knew I wasn't going anywhere near a horcrux without an experienced curse-breaker with me. Fleur's his wife and incredibly talented as well, best witch at Beauxbaton's anyway if you go by the Goblet of Fire."

"Anyway, Tonks was in mainly because of Remus but she's trained as an Auror as well, she suggested Moody who's incredibly experienced at fighting dark wizards. He's the one who insisted on the death penalty for breaking the contract. Initially we had chosen to go with the magical coma only, but he said he wasn't going to join us unless we were serious about security. Said he'd had enough of pussy footing around when he was in the Order of the Phoenix."

"I can so see him insisting on that. CONSTANT VIGILANCE."

"Yep. Can't say I disagree with him on that."

"So then what did you do?"

"Well, then we started searching for the Horcruxes of course. Had a huge stroke of luck right off the bat. Kreacher recognized the fake horcrux, the locket we retrieved from the cave. Turned out that Regulus Black, Sirius's younger brother had stolen it from the cave and given it to Kreacher to destroy. Unfortunately Kreacher could never figure out a way to destroy it and by the time we found out about it, it had been stolen by Dung."

"Dung stole it? How could he?"

"Yeah, luckily we managed to track him down and retrieve it before he had a chance to sell it."

"What did you do to Dung?"

"Obliviated the last three years from his memory. I wanted to just obliviate his memories of the Order, but Moody insisted that it was safer to just wipe all three years completely."

"Moody is quite the piece of work, I can't feel sorry for Dung at all though, it was a horrible betrayal to steal from headquarters."

"Yeah, anyway so that was how we found our first Horcrux."

"First, so you found more?"

"Yep, we knew that Voldemort had given the diary to Malfoy, so on the off chance that he had given another to another one of his Death Eater's we had Bill search their vaults at Gringott's. As an employee he has access and was able to conduct a discrete search under the guise of performing an audit. We found another one - Hufflepuff's cup, inside the Lestrange Vault. We replaced the cup with a duplicate so unless Voldemort himself shows up at Gringott's to check it we should be fine. Course Bill was taking a terrible risk, Goblins are death to anyone caught stealing from them, but he was willing to take it and thankfully it paid off."

"So you've got two of them, that's fantastic."

"Yeah, but we still haven't figured out how to destroy them. That's something you might be able to help us with, talk to Bill at the next meeting, he'll fill you in on all the stuff we've tried so far, maybe you can figure out something that the rest of us have missed."

"I'll do that."

"Also you'll be joining me every day in training, I've had Moody and Tonks both driving me ragged and you could do with some proper training in defense as well."

"Okay, that does sound like a good idea as well."

"Anyway, back to the horcruxes, we think Voldemort's snake might be another, and we think that he might have hidden another at Hogwarts. We've had Kreacher and Dobby searching the place discretely but no luck so far. Doesn't really help that we don't know exactly what we're looking for."

"Give me all the information you've gathered so far, let me see what I can figure out."

"Okay then, guess you'll be staying with me at #12 then, go grab your stuff, I'll apparate us there."

"Thanks Harry."

"It's good to have you back Hermione, even if I would have preferred that you stayed safe in Australia. I did miss you a lot."

"Thanks Harry, I missed you too."

oo00oo


End file.
